Chapter 255
Chapter 255: Hong Kong Auction House (B)
“This is a piece of jade carved by the hands of the Master Liu Weishan. Everyone knows that in recent years, there have been very few works by Mr. Liu Weishan in the world. Especially there were only a few among the folks. So Elder Liu’s works have reached the point of being priceless. Elder Liu’s works integrate ancient and modern Chinese, and foreign techniques, showing highly artistic skills and artistic cultivation. It’s a model which uses the ancient techniques, and it is appreciated by the westerner. It has made many contributions to the history of jade carving. In the past 30 years, he has created a novel and unique style of engraving, and his works have been enthusiastically sought after by collectors from the locals as well as the foreigners,” said the auctioneer.
The auctioneer’s words gave rise to excitement! Many local and overseas collectors came for Liu Weishan’s works in this auction. If the auction item was genuine, they wouldn’t hesitate to spend money in exchange for their love. But the problem was that everyone knew that Liu Weishan’s works were rarely circulated in the market, and there were even fewer in recent years! However, Huizhong Auction House actually brought out six pieces of Liu Weishan’s works in one auction, which was unprecedented in the history of auctions!
Moreover, there was still an ink slab! You’ll have to know that a few pieces of jade that had been circulated in the market already had reached the peak prices. Wasn’t the price of an ink slab invaluable?
But the question was, who could guarantee that these works were genuine? However, when they were worried about this, the auctioneer settled their worries. Then these doubtful people completely dispelled their suspicions.
“Of course, you don’t have to worry about the authenticity of Elder Liu’s works at this auction! That’s because Elder Liu is the chief appraiser of this auction. Every item in this auction has the inscription book written personally by Elder Liu. These works by Elder Liu, are also personally authorized by Elder Liu for auction. Each piece of jade has Elder Liu’s personal inscription, making these jades possess a higher collectible value!” The auctioneer said.
“Whoa!” A burst of exclamations spread in the hall! A personal inscription, what does this mean? This showed that these jade were not only authentic but also highly valuable!
With these doubts dispelled, those who were interested in Elder Liu’s works were eager to get their hands on them.
“The starting price of this piece of jade is five hundred thousand dollars.” Because it was the first auction item, the price couldn’t be set too high, but even then, this price stunned Yang Ming!
God, a piece of jade is more than twice the total value of the entire jade? It was still the starting price. It was absolutely impossible for the real transaction price to be five hundred thousand dollars. It was estimated to be more than double.
However, Yang Ming still underestimated the influence of Elder Liu’s works. The first person who shouted the offer immediately shouted the price of “one million dollars.”
Originally, Yang Ming marveled at it, but he found that people in the hall seemed not to be surprised. No one felt abnormal. Instead, they continued to bid upward.
The price of jade soared, and it reached three million two hundred thousand dollars! Yang Ming didn’t expect these people to be so rich and was so crazy about the collectibles.
As he looked at Liu Weishan beside him, it seemed that he wasn’t interested in the final transaction price. He actually started to snore. Chu Huifang saw Yang Ming look over, then she said with embarrassment, “Elder Liu is old. He can’t adapt to the weather of the south, so he didn’t sleep well last night.”
Yang Ming nodded and took the small windbreaker he was wearing, then he gently covered Liu Weishan with it. Unexpectedly, this very ordinary move actually moved Chu Huifang. She watched Yang Ming and nodded. Then, she smiled and exclaimed that they had made the right choice to accept him as a godson.
“Are dad’s works so valuable?” This price had shocked Xiao Qing.
Yang Ming smiled and shook his head, “I didn’t expect it either. It seems that there are so many rich people now!”
The jade’s transaction price finally went to three million three hundred twenty-six thousand dollars. Then the auctioneer stopped the bid with a hammer. Yang Ming sighed. He became a multi-millionaire in just a short time.
A vase of the Ming Dynasty was auctioned immediately after. The transaction price was actually millions of dollars, followed by oil paintings of some famous painters, etc. The transaction price wasn’t as high as Elder Liu’s jade, but it was also staggering.
In particular, a few pieces of jewelry that were once treasured by the European royal family had bids for nearly a hundred million dollars!
Of course, since the identities of the buyers were confidential, Yang Ming didn’t know who bid for the items. In short, they must be some wealthy people.
However, none of the pieces of Elder Liu’s works were sold below three million dollars, and that ink slab was even bid at a high price of six million eight hundred thousand dollars!
Because of these auction items, only the ink slab was engraved with the name of Elder Liu, which made these rich people go crazy! Everyone knew that the difference between having his name or not! Now it was worth more than six million dollars. In a few years, it might be worth much more!
Yang Ming was petrified. Am I becoming a multi-millionaire? If it was converted into yuan, should it be billions? The gifts that Liu Weishan gave me is too huge!
The auction ended in the morning. Another mysterious auction would be held in the afternoon. But those bosses who bought what they wanted wouldn’t participate in the afternoon’s auction. They had achieved their objective. Based on past experience, most of the afternoon auctions were a show, such as auctioning a celebrity’s underwear. These people were big bosses worth a few million dollars so a good number of people would be leaving before the afternoon auction.
But there were also some people who were solely dedicated to the auction in the afternoon. These people were some ashes grade collectors [1]. Ordinary collectibles wouldn’t interest them anymore. Only the peerless and rare treasures could attract them.
These people were often chiefs, heads, or members of the royal family or some tribes, or descendants of a rich man. Anyway, they were people who didn’t need to work and were dedicated to collecting. They attended the mysterious auctions around the world. Although they often didn’t gain anything after a few trips, they occasionally found some treasures.
In the afternoon, many people who came to the Huizhong Auction site were such people. They each booked a private VIP room. These people didn’t want to attract the attention of the media, but it was impossible for the auction site to mix in people from the media. Mr. Zhong had strict security. Those who could enter were all holding permits for the auction house!
Huang Rongjin was such a person. He was born to a wealthy Chinese business family in Singapore. He was the second child. He had no interest in business since he was the second child. He was interested in collecting. His father and big brother let him do whatever he wanted. Anyway, there was money at home. They weren’t afraid that he would lose all the money.
Because Huang Rongjin wasn’t competing for company power, his brother Huang Rongtian got along with him in harmony. Huang Rongjin told his brother many times that he would only like to have a part of the company’s shares in the future. He wouldn’t fight to be the chairman or general manager. This was what his brother, Huang Rongtian, wanted to see.
The younger brother didn’t know how to manage the business. If he came and messed it up, he would ruin the company. Since he didn’t have this intention, Huang Rongtian thought this was a good thing.
The relationship between him and his younger brother wouldn’t be like other big families where brothers struggled for power and created tension between them. Therefore, he was very supportive of his brother’s collection hobbies.
Huang Rongjin flipped open the free catalog of the auction house and looked up. He couldn’t help but be surprised! This auction actually sold six pieces of Elder Liu’s authentic items in the morning!
This made Huang Rongjin feel amazed and regret not going. How did he not pay attention to this auction beforehand? However, in general, Elder Liu’s work should be placed in the grand scene of the mysterious auction house!
After he inquired about the price of the set, it made Huang Rongjin felt even more distressed. One piece was only three million dollars. I should have come this morning to get all six pieces!
But it was useless to regret now! Huang Rongjin was a fan of jade. He once saw a jade ring made by Elder Liu in his friend’s house. He offered five million dollars, but his friend still refused to sell.
This feeling of missing the chance made Huang Rongjin feel really helpless. However, Huang Rongjin wasn’t a stupid person. In the ordinary auction during the morning, it actually sold six pieces of Elder Liu’s authentic items, which proved that there was something more valuable than this in the mysterious auction in the afternoon!
Huang Rongjin, who had traveled all over the world, knew this. No auction hall would be stupid enough to sell its pièce de résistance in the morning!
Thinking of this, Huang Rongjin could not help but show the excitement in his eyes! Yes, he had a strong expectation for this upcoming mysterious auction!